Thursday, January 16, 2014:
KDE has received around a third of the votes in LinuxQuestion's Members Choice for 2011 and 2012. It has been called as the most popular Linux desktop in the Linux Journal's 2013 Readers' Choice Awards.If all the options utilizing GNOME technology (Cinnamon, GNOME, Mate, and Unity) are summed up, then KDE loses its position, however, as a desktop environment that is a combination of both the shell and the underlying technology, KDE's position remains undisputed.

According to datamation.com, here are the reasons based on the answers taken from subscribers to kde@mail.kde.org. The list that comprises of long-term users of KDE, singles out KDE's balance between a classic desktop and a superior degree of configuration.

The Classic and the Configurable - The DVD burner K3B was highlighted a number of times along with the web browser Konqueror and the editor Kate. Other applications that were voted as popular were Ksnapshot, the screen capture app, Gwenview and Okular, the document and graphic viewers.

Doug McGarrett applauded KDE as possessing "a great deal of visual similarity to Windows, on which virtually all of us learned graphical user inferfacing . . . .At the same time, the KDE desktop is more versatile, allowing various icons to be placed in the panel . . . as well as on the desktop surface itself, and has a lot more options for these users spaces. If your desktop uses widgets, rather than icons, they can be modified in size, one at a time, so as to be more pleasing to the eye as well as more easily found."

Community – A few replies were way ahead of the software. Nowardev-Team stated that the most integral component is that KDE's people assisted them. Myriam Schweingruber also applauded the community stating that it is very open and welcomes everyone despite their skills, origins, or gender.

Considered Opinions - Even though most of the replies were in favour of KDE, they were not entirely uncritical. A few complained about the Nepomuk search frame as it delayed the pace of the system, but the majority of the complaints were for the Akonadi Personal Information Manager running Kmail, along with the address book and calendar. Akonadi has had technical issues.

A few of the users gave the suggestion that many of the issues had been resolved and that KMail in particular deserved another glance. However the most interesting thing was that the complainers had located other solutions for personal information while being generally supportive of KDE.

All in all, the most interesting thing about the expressed support is the combination of detailed opinion and calm assurance. It did not comprise of unthinking enthusiasms of fan-boys, but the informed thoughts of people who were familiar with KDE. KDE overall has a reputation as being a desktop environment that should be envied by others with good reason.